


I Love You Like a Love Song

by livin_la_vida_fandom



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Bittersweet, Family Feels, Female Friendship, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Light Angst, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, One Shot Collection, Song Based Stories, every chapter is stand alone, isn't it great when characters aren't that explored in canon, kicking off the collection in the right way, luka likes to think a lot, so you can do with them whatever you want, unless it says otherwise in the summary, we don't particularly care about canon in this household
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23827486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livin_la_vida_fandom/pseuds/livin_la_vida_fandom
Summary: A collection of short fics based on songs - mainly Lukanette, but there will be other pairings too (the pairing for every chapter will be written in the summary).Ch 1 and 2 are Lukanette;Ch 3 - Luka-centric; minor Lukanette, minor Adrinette, kinda Lukadrien (?)Ch 4 - Platonic Marigami, mentions of Adrigami and AdrinetteCh 5 - Viperbug: During a fight, Viperion and Ladybug get separated from others and try to find a solution for their current situation - and maybe some other problems.Ch 6 - Platonic Lukagami, background Adrinette, Adrigami and Lukanette: After a night of celebration, Kagami and Luka leave the engagement party with mixed feelings they may be eager to share.Ch 7 - Platonic Lukagami, background Adrinette, Adrigami and Lukanette: Warm and comfortable in Luka's apartment, Kagami and Luka open up to each other. (Sequel to chapter 6)Ch 8 - Lukanette: An annoying event that happens while Luka is away on tour forces Marinette to reevaluate her feelings. Tikki watches on while munching on stress-baked cookies.Ch 9 - Luka/Couffaine family-centric: Luka will be moving out soon, and he wants to leave a parting gift for his sister and mother.
Relationships: Anarka Couffaine & Juleka Couffaine & Luka Couffaine, Juleka Couffaine & Luka Couffaine, Luka Couffaine & Kagami Tsurugi, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kagami Tsurugi, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki, background Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi - Relationship, background Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, lukadrien - freeform, lukagami - freeform
Comments: 52
Kudos: 64





	1. It Just Hit Me We Can't Go Back

**Author's Note:**

> These stories, as I already mentioned in the summary, will be based on songs, some more directly, some less, and although most of these will be Lukanette as they're my favorite ship, I will include others as well - the pairing will be mentioned in the summary so you can skip it - or skip to it - if you want to. Some might not even be romantic!
> 
> The story we're kicking off is a bit angsty and bittersweet, but it's not always going to be like that. Probably.
> 
> Edit: I'm going to put the song this chapter was based on here because the endnotes go bye when it's a multi-chaptered fic - it's Too Much To Ask by Arctic Monkeys: https://youtu.be/yJkts8ud6uA
> 
> Another Edit: Since the summary of the fic is getting too long, I'm moving the summary for the 1st chapter here.
> 
> Lukanette: Luka plays in a high-class restaurant and thinks back to his and Marinette's relationship
> 
> As always:
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope you like it!

Luka guessed he would never be quite used to performing, due to such high demand, in a place as fancy as this one. Ever since Kitty Section went on an indefinite break so each one of the members could focus on other things - such as family or passion projects - Luka started a solo career, which was quite successful, in his own opinion. He might not be the greatest star in the world, but people still liked him and supported him and, most importantly, enjoyed his music. He was very grateful that most of the band's fans continued supporting them even when they were doing such different things – his sister focused on her modeling career, Rose opened a business that was a mash-up of a flower shop and a restaurant, and although Ivan was mostly focused on his wife and the little boy they welcomed into the world recently, he still guest-starred on the drums in some very popular bands.

Luka was very proud of his friends.

He, on the other hand, continued down the path of music. However, his solo sound differed quite a bit from the heavy, rock/metal sound of his band, and at the beginning, he was somewhat afraid his new music wouldn't be accepted. He was very wrong, however, and now he could say with confidence that not only was he proud of his new work, but he was also proud of the fact that it managed to reach the hearts of so many people.

Being raised on a boat with a mother that enjoyed chaos and anarchy, however, meant he would never feel fully comfortable in high-class restaurants that often sought out his presence. Sometimes he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was an intruder and an imposter, and that sooner or later people would realize that and he would be kicked out in the most ungraceful way.

Juleka would just roll her eyes at him whenever he’d suggest something along those lines.

(Then she would send him screenshots and comments of his fans, to make him feel better because she was still worried.)

Last-minute preparations before his performance went by in a flash, and soon, Luka found himself in a familiar chair, in front of a mostly unfamiliar crowd, ready to do the one thing that came most naturally to him.

He and his backing band started playing the first song, and they’d went through three more before he finally noticed the face he hadn’t seen in almost two years.

(Has it been that long? It felt like it was both yesterday and a decade ago that they'd both agreed it was for the best for them to say their goodbyes.)

Marinette looked beautiful as always. Unlike how she wore it in the past, her hair was cut short, but he’d already known that – however much he’d avoided news about her (like a coward or a bitter ex, probably a combination of both), some snippets still reached him. She was a famous designer, after all, and his sister was a sought after model. They collaborated once or twice after their break-up.

She was wearing a beautiful baby blue dress that accentuated her eyes, and the only jewelry she wore was a delicate silver bracelet and black earrings she never took off, not even years after the need for them had disappeared. Around her sat people Luka didn’t know, but a short description to Juleka and she’d probably be able to tell him that those were famous designers, models, or business partners. Marinette had been successful from the start, but ever since the last year’s Paris show she’d blown up in popularity.

Luka was there, sitting in the back rows, trying to hide but still show support.

The media spotted him.

They always do.

If he had to think of one thing that made him hate being famous, it was certainly the fact that Marinette was, too, when they’d broken up, and the whole world felt they had every right to voice their opinions on the matter. He didn’t mind it much when they tried to paint _him_ as the bad guy – Juleka certainly didn’t enjoy his apathy, and even Rose snapped at him once after he’d failed to react “in the correct way” after a particularly nasty article was written about him. Luka simply didn’t care, though. Even famous, he was a quiet, unassuming, and mostly boring guy to write about, so he knew that the media would soon run out of imagination and they would have to leave him alone to lead his very uninteresting life.

The things they wrote about Marinette, however, scared him.

She was strong, certainly, and over the years many things had happened to her which shaped her up to be resilient to almost anything thrown her way – but that was on the surface. On the inside, she still hurt, and painful memories of all the times he had had to hold her close well into the night until her tears dried out haunted him throughout the affair. He called her a few times, not trying to hide his concern, to see how she was doing.

She knew there was no point in lying to him, so she told him that at the moment she wasn't fine, but she knew, just as he did, that the storm would soon pass and that she just had to wait it out. The last time they talked she thanked him for checking in, but said that it was probably for the best they stopped talking, because someone told the news they were still in touch and that guaranteed to prolong both of their troubles and miseries.

He respected her wishes and never once contacted her after that.

She didn’t contact him either, except on the day of the release of his solo album, when she’d sent him an unsigned bouquet made from their flowers, and wished him all the luck. Luka cried only a bit.

It was easy at times to forget why they went their separate ways. No one he met after her managed to capture his heart the way she had, and on the days he felt particularly lonely he considered throwing pride, caution and everything to the wind, calling her and suggesting they give each other a second chance.

(He was too used to having second chances.)

However, no sooner than thoughts like that occupied his mind, he’d remember the third part of the equation they never seemed to be able to escape. His existence was always present in the background of their relationship, and no matter how much both of them fought to banish him from their thoughts – her thoughts – it became clear that would never happen. As soon as that revelation hit him in the head, Luka had another epiphany – and that was that he wouldn’t be able to live with the constant thought that when Marinette would look into his eyes, she’d imagine green instead of blue.

She loved him, Luka knew that, and they were happy together, and they could have spent the rest of their lives in that easy comfort they had created. Luka didn’t want that. He couldn’t take that.

He never decided if he was at fault for being a coward or if she was at fault for clinging onto something that fate had continuously waved in front of her face, but out of her reach.

As his final performance of the night approached, Luka dared to throw something more than a throwaway glance Marinette’s way, tomorrow's gossip be damned. When he caught her eye, she seemed a little surprised, but offered him the kind of smile that thrilled him and killed him all those years ago – because there was incredible fondness in her eyes, but there was also the harsh truth that both of them knew. As always, she seemed to have been very attentive; as always, he was sure, she'd listened to his music very carefully, and maybe that was the best thing that would come out of what Luka feared would be the love story of his life.

He’d responded to her smile with his own, fond but somewhat bitterly amused, and as the final melodies of the song he’d started writing years ago came to an end, Luka found that the thing he lamented the most was the knowledge that the two of them could never go back to the simple times when they silently enjoyed each other’s warmth.


	2. Fools Rush In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lukanette - A beautiful picnic day turns a little sour after Marinette's fears kick in. Luckily, Luka's there to convince her to talk about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time there's no angst, maybe just a little hurt/comfort, but our babies talk it out and everyone's happy! By the way, I had only heard the song this chapter was based on TODAY and right away inspiration hit me even though I've got songs that have been waiting for weeks - months actually - to be used. They're chanting "pick me pick me pick me" and I'm afraid to go to sleep.
> 
> Once again, I hope you'll enjoy reading this short story!

Marinette has been afraid of having this conversation ever since she and Luka had decided to give “them” a go and see where it would lead them. However, there was no avoiding it anymore, not after Luka gently, but decidedly urged her to open up.

And the day had been going so great up until that moment.

* * *

It was a lovely springtime Saturday, and neither of them had any responsibilities. The weather was perfect for the picnic date they'd been planning for a few weeks already, and Marinette left her house that morning with a skip in her step, a tingly heart, and a basket full of pastries – almost all of them Luka's favorites. Luka greeted her in the getup she's become so used to seeing – acoustic guitar slung over his back in its case, pushing his bike next to him. The only difference was that now, the bike's basket contained a nice woolen blanket they were going to sit on, an even nicer blanket they'd use to cover themselves if it got too chilly (no matter if it got chilly or not, Marinette had every intention to cuddle with him underneath that blanket), and a thermos filled with what was undoubtedly Marinette’s favorite coffee.

It took a lot of willpower and self-control for Marinette not to fling herself at Luka, but the thought of his guitar and bike being damaged, once again, because of her – however small the damage and however much Luka tried to convince her it wasn’t a big deal – stopped her in her tracks and she only leaned on her tip-toes to leave a lasting kiss on Luka’s cheek.

She was rewarded with a fond smile and a subtle blush, so all in all, she would consider her sacrifice worth it.

After they settled in a quiet corner of their favorite park, the two of them fell into an easy conversation, comfortable and familiar. Luka played a few songs before they treated their stomachs with some delicious snacks and coffee. Marinette’s nose ended up being covered in powdered sugar, eliciting a chuckle and some teasing from Luka, earning him Marinette’s pouty face (which she knew he found adorable, and she certainly used that knowledge). Marinette’s chance for revenge came soon after when, after biting a croissant richly filled with chocolate, the corners of Luka’s mouth became smeared with chocolaty goodness. Naturally, Marinette took her opportunity for teasing, and she was merciless, really, she was, it was just that Luka did that smirk and then he cleaned the corners of his mouth with his tongue and maybe Marinette was a little overwhelmed.

(Maybe Luka was _slightly_ better at playing the game than her.)

The picnic continued well into the afternoon, and although it was indeed getting very chilly (and Marinette needed no excuse to cuddle with Luka), neither of them wanted to leave. The last blissful part of their date found them both in comfortable silence, wrapped up in each other, enjoying the last few remaining rays of the sun.

And then Marinette raised her eyes to look at Luka’s and ruined everything.

It was no secret to anyone that Luka fell first, and it was probably - well, almost certainly - not a secret that Luka was, still, the one who loved harder. Marinette hated thinking about that, hated thinking how all of their friends thought about that, hated that Luka himself knew it. She was aware of the fact that feelings couldn’t be controlled, but it was in moments like these, when she felt so, _so_ happy, only to turn around and see very clearly that she wasn’t giving to Luka half of what he was giving to her, that she wished she could change something.

His heart or her heart – well. She wasn’t sure.

Luka, attentive as always, sensed her sudden shift in mood and that made Marinette feel even worse.

He tried to cheer her up, naturally, but he saw that it had the opposite effect, and as the air grew colder – not only literally – Luka suggested they pack up their things and go. Marinette, angry with herself for destroying a day that was not only perfect, but also a day they’d been looking forward to for a long time, agreed without much objection. She was preparing herself for a sleepless night, when Luka, after putting the blankets in the basket, offered her his hand and, only slightly hesitantly, asked her if she wanted to come to The Liberty with him.

Marinette took his hand without hesitation.

As they were walking along the Seine in silence, Luka struggled to push his bike with only one arm but refused to let go of Marinette’s hand. Several times, he squeezed it reassuringly, and Marinette had to fight off a few teardrops threatening to fall.

A little more than half an hour after they’d left the park, Marinette and Luka found themselves in Luka’s room; her, sitting on his bed, him, sitting on a chair across from her. Marinette knew he was just being understanding and offering her space. A part of her was grateful for the gesture, but the more insecure part of her wished he was still next to her.

Several minutes passed in silence.

“Was it-”, Luka started, and then frowned, not knowing what to say. Marinette knew he genuinely had no idea what was it that happened, and she could guess that he felt it was his fault in some way, which made her stomach churn.

“It- it wasn’t your fault”, she rushed to say, but the frown didn’t leave Luka’s face. He sighed.

“Marinette, I need- I need you to tell me what happened. I can’t… read your silence, and I know you said it’s not my fault but when you suddenly- I didn’t- I’m not sure what happened and, honestly, I’m a little scared now, so I know I told you you can tell me nothing all that time ago, but I’d- really appreciate it if you just. Said what’s on your mind.”

Marinette’s chest felt like someone broke into it and mercilessly squeezed her heart, so she couldn't help it when she leaped up and threw her hands around Luka's head, pushing him into her. She could feel his hesitation while bringing his hands up, but he eventually circled her waist and rested his head on her stomach, waiting.

“I need you to promise me you will wait and listen to me until the end”, Marinette said, and Luka chuckled incredulously – and yes, Marinette realized that she’d just warned the most patient person she knew that he needed to be patient, but saying it was important to her, and she let him know that by pulling a little at his hair. Luka quieted down immediately.

“I… I loved this day. It was so perfect and we’ve been – _I’ve_ been looking forward to it for so long and- if I _tried_ I couldn’t imagine it going better; I loved that you brought me my favorite coffee and that blanket which I gratefully used as an excuse to cuddle up to you, and the way you teased me, and how you let me tease you back, and the songs you sang were all the ones I loved-”, Marinette choked, and Luka tried to raise his head to look at her, but Marinette stopped him.

"You- you do so much for me, and you're so nice to me and you cherish me and I- when you looked at me like that I-", she stopped, and Luka seemed to have realized where she was going because his hands were going a little slack in their hold on her, and Marinette’s fears worsened.

“…Is it… bad?”, Luka asked, hesitantly. “Is it bad that I feel that way?”

“No!”, Marinette almost yelled, and Luka twitched a little under her hold. “No”, she replied, more quietly, more gently. She started running her hands through Luka’s hair, and he, in turn, nuzzled up against her, trying to ease her mind a little, to give her more courage after she returned some of his.

“I’m scared”, Marinette said, finally, and this time she let Luka raise his head to look at her. His eyes shone with worry and Marinette swore that she didn’t deserve him, but she would, one day.

“I’m so happy like this”, she said, fond eyes looking down at him. One of her hands caressed his cheek with the other one still in his hair. “You make me so happy. You make me feel- I can’t even describe it. I love every second I spend with you.”

Her eyes turned somewhat sad, then, and the hand on Luka’s cheek started trembling. He turned his head slightly, to kiss it. To encourage her to keep going.

“I know I’m not… where you are, yet, and that scares me. It scares me to think that you’ll leave because of that”, she said, and as soon as she finished – or maybe even before that – Luka squeezed her tighter to himself, and started whispering _“never, never, never”_ like a chant.

That was the last straw that caused Marinette to break down crying.

“I just don’t want to rush in”, she continued, tears streaming down her face. “I’ve done that before, and it ended awfully, and I don’t want to repeat that. I want- What we have right now- I know it’s going to become something great and I _know_ I’ll get to where you are, but I’m just, really, really afraid you won’t wait for me, I’m afraid you’ll start listening to what the others are saying.”

“Marinette, look at me”, Luka demanded, pulling at her shirt, urging her to lower her head. She obliged. Her teary eyes caused a painful squeeze of his heart.

“I would never do that. Marinette, I would wait for you forever.”

“You’re only saying that.”

“I’m serious”, he pressed on. “Look, things happened the way they did and no one could have controlled them. Just because I”, he blushed, “you know… fell first, doesn’t mean that I’m always going to be the one that… the one… I’m not going to say it yet because you’re obviously not ready, but Marinette, _that’s okay_. I don't want you to rush. I'm happy like this too. Really happy", Luka smiled, and Marinette felt a smile tugging at her lips.

Luka then started blushing, averted his eyes, and said, “And, you know, I don’t mean to sound… egoistic or whatever, but I… know you’re… getting there”. Marinette then blushed in return, but smiled down at him fondly and nodded her head.

“You’re not being egoistic. You’re being right.”

He buried his head in her stomach to stop her from seeing the dopey grin overtaking his face, but Marinette still felt it spreading across his face. Feeling more light-hearted than ever, she picked up where she had left off and continued carding her hands through his hair while humming a new tune Luka was working on. She raised Luka's head and then gestured to the bed. Luka got up immediately, flung himself at the bed, and opened his arms, inviting her in. Marinette happily obliged, throwing herself at him, and they proceeded to cuddle for half an hour more before Marinette realized it was getting late.

“I should probably go home.”

Luka hummed but didn't let her go.

“Is… everything okay now?”, he asked, and Marinette nodded. “Are you sure? If anything I do makes you uncomfortable, please say.”

“I’m sure, Luka. And it doesn’t make me uncomfortable. It always made me happy - just, I felt a little guilty. But now that we talked about everything, I feel great, and I can say with confidence please, _don’t_ stop looking at me like that. It makes my heart go wild. I love it", Marinette smiled, and then she smirked when she saw the red face on her very loving boyfriend. "Also, prepare yourself, because if you blush this much from this amount of affection you are absolutely _not_ ready for what’s coming your way.”

Luka laughed in delight.

"Oh, believe me, I am _so_ ready.”

(“But be sure that if something _does_ make me uncomfortable, you _will_ find out about it.”

“That sounds like a threat.”

“It is one.”)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song used as inspiration is Please Don't Say You Love Me by Gabrielle Aplin: https://youtu.be/PxNYvk_0Onw
> 
> When I tell you I heard this song and my mind immediately went LUKANETTE I swear I'm not lying.
> 
> Thank you for reading, hope you liked it!


	3. Maybe Then You'd Want Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luka-centric; minor Lukanette, minor Adrinette, kinda Lukadrien (?) - Luka is sitting on the deck of The Liberty and he can't stop looking at Adrien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit shorter, also a lot more ambiguous than the previous two, which is why I had a problem with adding tags for it. It's mostly Luka's musings, no "real" ship interaction, but there's still hints of all three mentioned ships, which is why I decided to add them in the summary/tags.
> 
> You know it, I hope you like it!

Luka was sitting by the edge of the boat, gently strumming his guitar and, however much he’d tried to fight it, looking at Adrien.

The gentle wind coming from the river was ruffling the boy’s hair, making the golden locks dance across his face, reflecting the sunlight. The genuine joy Adrien felt at being able to spend some time with his friends was apparent in the way roses bloomed across his cheeks, in the way his eyes shone, and in the serene smile that never left his face. He really was beautiful, Luka thought. Not only on the outside but on the inside as well. Kind, selfless, humble. He loved his friends and appreciated them very much, and he tried, however he could, to show that – even when his father made it rather difficult to do. Indeed, Adrien was a beautiful, pure boy. It was no wonder Marinette was so in love with him.

Luka’s fingers continued dancing across his guitar while he thought of the way Marinette’s entire being lit up whenever she would see Adrien. Watching the two of them was like watching the sun and the moon together in the sky. A beautiful phenomenon, two celestial bodies dancing around each other, too far away from everyone else’s reach. Luka would know. He’s spent the better part of the last year longing after Marinette’s beautiful blue eyes, but they were always busy chasing after Adrien’s green ones. Lost in the endless fields of grass, who could blame her for not once directing her gaze elsewhere? Adrien’s eyes were like that – they could pull you in so easily. There was no coldness, no cruelty – no storms brewing in them. They were gentle like the spring, and Luka thought a more eloquent man could write thousands of poems about them. But Luka was always bad with words.

How do you describe all the emotions swirling in your soul with only a few letters bound together?

Marinette giggled. Luka’s eyes shifted over to her, to be greeted by a sight he already knew by heart. Hand raised shyly to cover her laughing mouth, eyes crinkling, cheeks like little apples. The boy responsible for the sight stood next to her, in all his brilliant glory, his lips stretched into a lovely smile. Luka smiled to himself – it was a view that could melt the ice around the coldest hearts, and Luka’s heart wasn’t frozen. He could feel its beats too intimately for that to be true.

Strumming to the sound of their laughter and his pain, Luka closed his eyes, trying to enjoy the heat of the sun and the cooling breeze. Even then, though, he could see Adrien’s hair blowing in the wind, his eyes shining in the sun, his whole presence lighting up the small space that was the deck of Luka’s home. It felt weirdly intimate, him being there.

It also felt like he was intruding.

Too focused on the chords, Luka didn’t notice his sister approaching him, even with her heavy steps. He was deep in his head, or rather, deep in his heart, trying to decode the meaning of the drumming he felt.

“I haven’t heard that one before”, Juleka said while sitting down next to her brother, bringing him out of his reverie. “New song?”

Luka hummed.

“I don’t know. Not really. I didn’t pay attention to what I was playing. I simply strummed my guitar.”

“Hm”, Juleka nodded. “Then you can’t tell me what the song is about, huh?”, she asked, at first looking over the fence into the river, before shifting her eyes towards Luka. He frowned when he saw the sadness in them – one Juleka tried to hide; one that didn’t come from her, Luka knew, but for him.

“Why? What did it sound like?”, he asked, although a part of him already knew. Still, maybe he needed to hear it from somebody else, to have his feelings confirmed, explained, voiced aloud.

Juleka bit her lip, hesitating.

“It… it sounded bittersweet”, she mumbled. “Like, I don’t know, like- like a heartbreak.”

She glanced in Marinette’s direction.

Luka turned to look in the same direction, and then let out a chuckle. Juleka looked at him, confusion written all over her face. Luka raised his hand to ruffle her hair, earning a pout and a shove from Juleka. Even so, she waited patiently for her brother to gather his thoughts.

“It’s not about her, Jules. I wasn’t thinking about her”, he finally answered.

Juleka raised an eyebrow, obviously not believing a word he said. Luka, however, slowly shifted his eyes towards the spot where stood a boy who shone as brightly as the sun, surrounded by friends who gathered around him like moths around a flame. Juleka followed his gaze.

“No”, Luka repeated, quietly. “This song is not about Marinette.”

He lowered his head, his bangs falling into the blue of his eyes.

“I guess I’ve got a boy crush.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't guess by now, this ficlet was inspired by "Girl Crush", and I'm going to link both Harry Styles' ( https://youtu.be/UdLRqtS_TMk ) and original version by Little Big Town ( https://youtu.be/JYZMT8otKdI ) here.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	4. Can't We Laugh About It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Platonic Marigami, mentions of Adrigami and Adrinette - Kagami and Marinette talk about Adrien, and Kagami tells her something unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for some friendship, baby!!! I really like the fact that Marinette and Kagami are becoming friends and if I have some problems with canon, that certainly isn't it. In fact, I'd like for their friendship to grow even stronger in later seasons.
> 
> As I've mentioned in the summary, adrinette and adrigami WILL be mentioned - they will be talked about - but the focus is on the relationship between Marinette and Kagami, especially in regards to the fact that - canonically - Adrien and Kagami are dating. There will be a little tiny surprise though, but even though it's tiny I don't want to spoil it, so I'm not gonna say it.
> 
> As always, hope you enjoy!

“Oh, I’m so glad we went to see this movie together! Thank you for inviting me out, Kagami”, Marinette smiled, taking a sip of the orange juice she had ordered when they came to the café. Kagami smiled, glad that Marinette was in a good mood, and then took a sip of her coffee.

“I am very pleased that you enjoyed this movie. Thank you for accepting my invitation”, she replied, and Marinette let out an exasperated, but fond chuckle – even though they’ve been friends for quite a while now, Kagami still spoke in a very polite manner. It was just the result of her upbringing, Marinette knew, so she eventually learned to stop pushing for Kagami to “relax” around her – Kagami had proved time and time again that she liked Marinette’s company, and that she thought of her as a close friend.

Marinette noticed, however, that the other girl was more somber than usual, which worried her. Kagami seemed lost in her thoughts, face slightly scrunching up, brows furrowed. Marinette was debating whether she should ask Kagami what was wrong or wait for the girl to open up herself, when Kagami pulled herself out of her reverie, clearing her throat.

“Actually, Marinette… There is something I wanted to talk to you about”, she said, and even though Marinette was worried due to the tone of her voice, she still kept a smile on her face, encouraging Kagami.

“Yes, Kagami?”, she said, and Kagami looked at her, lowered her head, and then raised it again, looking at Marinette with a determination she always carried within.

“It’s about Adrien”, Kagami said, and Marinette’s smile faltered.

Even though quite some time had already passed, and her feelings for Adrien were starting to wane, it was still difficult for Marinette to talk about him, especially with Kagami – seeing as she was his girlfriend. Marinette worked hard on burying her feelings of jealousy towards Kagami to make sure their friendship wouldn't suffer, but that didn't mean that there was no bitterness buried beneath layers and layers of other feelings Marinette felt towards her.

Marinette shifted uncomfortably on her chair, wishing to avoid the conversation, but knowing that with Kagami, that was impossible. Besides, Kagami seemed to need the conversation, so even though Marinette would rather talk about anything and anyone other than Adrien, she nodded her head.

“Go on.”

Now Kagami shifted slightly in her seat, prompting Marinette to believe that what she was about to say wasn’t easy – Kagami was a girl who had “good manners”, “no showing weakness allowed” and “act with dignity” drilled into her from a young age. Still, the determination never left her, and with one final inhale, she poured out words that left Marinette in shock.

“I am going to break up with him”, Kagami announced with an air of finality, and many feelings passed through Marinette’s head, but the most present one was confusion.

So she expressed it.

“What?”

Kagami sighed, already expecting this reaction, and took another sip of her coffee before looking up again.

“I am going to break up with him”, she repeated, “and as you are my- well, my closest friend, but also, seeing as how you have feelings for him as well… I felt compelled to let you know and explain my reasoning.”

Marinette opened her mouth to tell Kagami that she owed her no explanation, that her feelings and decisions were hers alone, but her curiosity won her over so she decided to keep quiet, only nodding curtly to let Kagami know she could continue.

Kagami bowed her head in a silent “thank you”.

“Adrien is… well, he is a lovely boy, and I have a lot of fun with him. We are similar in many ways, and have gone through some things that not many others have gone through, so, I believed, we were perfect for each other. However", she said, and then hesitated before continuing, "the more time we spent together, the more I realized… I was only seeing what I wished to see. That, or I failed to accept the truth, even though it was… quite obvious.”

Marinette sat, completely confused, waiting for Kagami to go on, but the girl had trouble with saying the rest of her thoughts, so Marinette reached her hand out, squeezed Kagami’s and smiled at her, in an attempt to encourage the girl sitting across from her. Kagami smiled back, grateful, and then took a deep breath.

“Adrien… isn’t in love with me”, she said, and Marinette’s eyes widened in disbelief. This entire time, she thought- well, one of the main reasons she gave up on Adrien completely was because she believed that not only was Kagami in love with him, but he returned her feelings. And yet, here Kagami was, and Marinette knew she couldn’t be lying by the sad look in her eyes. Marinette cleared her throat, trying to find her voice.

“Are… are you sure?”, she asked, gently, trying to convey to Kagami that she was on her side. “I… know it’s not my place to say this, but, he looks like he really likes you.”

“He does”, Kagami answered, and then let out the closest thing to a groan Marinette had ever heard from her. Marinette, once again confused, raised her eyebrows, and she was about to say something when Kagami said, “He does _like_ me, but he is not _in love_ with me, and I can’t- I don’t like feeling like the second choice which, clearly, I am.”

Kagami raised her head to look Marinette in the eyes.

“Marinette, he is in love with someone else.”

Stunned, the only thing Marinette could do was stare at Kagami blankly, trying to process what she had just heard. Marinette believed Adrien was in love with Kagami, but here Kagami was, telling Marinette that he was actually in love with someone else. Blinking back the utter confusion that overcame her, Marinette, weakly, managed to ask, “ _Who_?”

Kagami shook her head.

“Honestly, I… I don’t know. I believed”, she said while avoiding Marinette’s eyes, “at first I believed it was you, but now… Honestly, I don’t know.”

The two of them sat in silence for a while. Marinette shook her head then, bringing herself out of her reverie. Her friend had just told her she was breaking up with her boyfriend because he was in love with someone else, and the only thing she could offer was stunned silence? No, Marinette decided, she had to say something. Raising her head high, almost as if in defiance, she looked at Kagami with a hard look in her eyes and a teasing smile on her face.

“Well, if he is in love with someone else while he has you, that’s his loss”, she said, and Kagami looked up at her, obviously not expecting this kind of reaction.

“You… you really believe so?”, she asked. “You’re not mad?”

“Of course I’m mad!”, Marinette replied, but before Kagami could do something stupid like apologize, she added, “Mad at him!”

She crossed her arms and started shaking her head disapprovingly.

“I always believed that Adrien was a smart guy, but if he can’t see how great you are, then I must have been wrong!”, she said in a determined voice. “To be in love with someone else when he has you, how dare he!”

Kagami laughed at her friend’s antics, and when Marinette pouted and raised her brow at her, still with her hands crossed across her chest, Kagami reached out to move her hands away, and with a gentle and grateful smile on her face, squeezed Marinette’s hand in gratitude.

“You and I both know you can’t control your feelings”, she said, and while Marinette was still pouting at first, eventually she sighed and returned Kagami’s wistful smile with one of her own.

“Yes, yes, you’re right”, she admitted.

Kagami nodded her head, then took another sip of her coffee that had already gone cold. Marinette wasn’t done yet, though.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t riot against him for a while!”, she declared, and Kagami looked at her in surprise.

“Riot-“, she began to ask, but Marinette was already on fire.

“So what if he’s good looking? There are plenty of cute guys out there!”, she said, eyes closed, pointing her finger upwards, and Kagami laughed.

“Well, to be fair, he _is_ more than that”, Kagami responded, and Marinette looked at her accusingly, before sighing in approval, annoyed that Kagami was right.

“You’re right, you’re right, I know”, she agreed. “He’s also very nice, and sweet, and kind…”

“Caring towards his friends, always ready to help strangers…”

“Not stuck-up at all, even with the way he was brought up…”

Both of them sighed, before bursting into giggles, amused with themselves.

“I don’t think this is helping our situation”, Kagami said, laughing, and Marinette wholeheartedly agreed, shaking her head at their nonsensical behavior.

“Well”, Marinette said, after a few moments of silence, “if it means anything, you’ve got me. We can eat ice cream, watch third rate rom-coms, and cry over Adrien Agreste together!”, she said, and Kagami laughed, but then looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“I don’t plan on crying over him”, she said, and Marinette once again burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.

“No, I don’t think I want to cry over him either”, she agreed. She gulped down the rest of her juice, then smiled at Kagami. "Come on", she waved the waiter over, "let's get out of here and take a walk outside, the weather is beautiful. And, if you agree, of course, let's not talk about Adrien anymore. I want to go out and have fun with my friend."

Kagami smiled.

“I think that’s a great suggestion.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loosely based on, you guessed it, Beautiful Liar by Shakira and Beyonce: https://youtu.be/QrOe2h9RtWI
> 
> Also let me say that I have nothing against Adrien, I like him - he is babie - but, just like Marinette and the others, he is a confused teenager who doesn't really know what he's doing, but he is trying his best. Also, I don't dislike adrigami. I think they have potential, just like lukanette does, but they're facing the same problem lukanette is, and that's one part of the ship feeling like a second choice. Why I prefer lukanette over adrigami is because, for better or worse (for us shippers), Marinette and Luka aren't dating YET, because it's clear that Marinette has a lot of feelings to work through. Adrien is the same - he also has a lot of feelings to work through - and although it isn't necessarily bad that he's doing that while also trying to give Kagami a chance, it did lead to some situations that made me feel like adrigami got together too early.
> 
> Sorry for ranting, here's a tl;dr - Adrien and Kagami are both babies that need to be protected, they deserve the world, they COULD be great together but I think they started dating too early.


	5. Promise You I'll Never Leave Your Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viperbug: During a fight, Viperion and Ladybug get separated from others and try to find a solution for their current situation - and maybe some other problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suprise, bitch, bet you thought you'd seen the last of me!
> 
> Jokes aside hiiii, how are you all? It's been almost half a year since I uploaded anything here, but you know, stuff happens, inspiration doesn't. I do hope that I'll get at least to "chapter 10" before I inevitably disappear for another few months (I am. Starting. My last year in university. I. Am. Terrified.).
> 
> Anyway, kicking off my (temporary probably) comeback, we've got a story about my favorite mlb ship - but in their suits! The akuma isn't really even mentioned because I suck at writing all things akuma/action related, but you know, they're still out there in their spandexes, super-heroing or whatever. But also having /feelings/.
> 
> Oh and, canon? We don't know her.
> 
> Enjoy!

“I don’t understand, I don’t understand, _I don’t understand_!”, Ladybug yelled, pulling at her hair. Across from her in a small alley, their current hiding spot, Viperion sat quietly and observed her. Unfortunately, they were split up from the others while avoiding an attack, and though they both believed in their teammates, being split up in the kind of situation where they were losing was very annoying – not to mention dangerous. Viperion already had to reset everything several times, and even though he came back with more information every time, they were still no closer to finding a solution. Obviously, that frustrated Ladybug to no end. Viperion couldn’t blame her – he was feeling quite nervous too. Every time their plans fell apart he had to witness it; all the others didn’t remember anything.

He envied them that, in the moments he allowed himself to be bitter and selfish.

Ladybug started pacing around, mumbling about all the failed plans and ideas she had, trying to figure out what went wrong with them. If there was a silver lining in the entire situation, it was that the two strategists of the team were stuck together – which could, unfortunately, be seen as a negative as well, seeing how the others', especially Chat's plans, usually included going straight for an attack. Viperion hoped Rena and Carapace were with him and doing their best to stop their impulsive friend from doing something that couldn’t be undone, as Viperion was far from them and couldn’t tell if they needed a reset or not.

“Ladybug”, he finally spoke, trying to keep his voice calm and soothing. “Ladybug, please, stop for a moment and take a breath. I understand that you are irritated, but you know that you work better when you are calmer”, he said, rising to his feet and taking only a step to find himself in front of Ladybug. He put his hands on her shoulders, prompting her to look at him.

“It’ll be alright. We’ve been through worse”, Viperion smiled, and Ladybug responded with a snort and a sigh, letting some tension leave her body.

“You’re right. You’re right, I know you are, but it’s just… I’m worried about the others. _You_ know I work best when I know that they’re safe, or at least know where they are.”

“I know. I hate that we’ve been separated from them as well.”

“I just _really_ hope Chat doesn’t do something reckless”, she groaned, and Viperion had to laugh at that. Everybody knew that in their entire team – which, at this point, counted many members – Ladybug had the most trust in Chat, but he was also the source of her biggest headaches. Viperion ruffled her hair, the way he would ruffle his sister’s, the way Ladybug wished he’d _stop_ doing, and then reassured her everything would be okay.

“He’s not as impulsive as he used to be. Besides, hopefully, the others are with him and they’re doing everything in their power to stop him from running through the streets yelling after you.”

Ladybug groaned again.

“I know you’re joking, but a part of me is really worried he might do that.”

“Well”, Viperion said, “then we have to hurry up and find a way to regroup. Is the connection still blocked?”

“I tried contacting them several times”, Ladybug said, disappointment evident in her voice. “Whatever it was that our victim did, it tampered with all communication devices. We can’t reach them.”

Viperion hummed.

“There is no other way than to go about it the old-fashioned way.”

Ladybug sighed.

“Yes, but that would mean-“

“That would mean exposing yourself to direct danger, yes”, Viperion nodded. “Or rather, it would mean _I_ have to expose myself.”

Ladybug tried to protest, but Viperion cut her off, firmly but gently.

“Now is not the time, Ladybug”, he smiled. “You and I both know who the more important player in this game is.”

“You’re important”, she pouted.

“Just like everyone else”, Viperion agreed with a gentle smile. “Yes, but the core members of this team are Chat and, _especially_ , you. We’re all aware of that, Ladybug. I promise you no one is bitter about that. Well”, he smirked, and Ladybug let out a silent snort, “maybe the Queen would beg to differ, but she’s getting there.”

“Still”, Ladybug pressed on, “there must be some other way to do this. It’s dangerous. You’re basically sacrificing yourself.”

“We need to let them know how to find us. If the akuma finds us as well, we’ll need a distraction. It’s simple logic.”

“But-“

“I would go to hell for you and you know that”, Viperion said, quietly but with strong determination, and Ladybug was lost for words. She raised her blue eyes to meet the magically enchanted green ones, and she could swear that she could see the ocean for a second – and the onslaught of buried feelings was hard to fight.

As more time passed it was getting harder for both of them to hide what they knew. The fact that Viperion, but more importantly, the man under the mask – _Luka_ – knew who Ladybug was under _her_ mask was - to Ladybug, at least - as obvious as the day and there was no denying it. However, _he_ was well aware he wasn't allowed to admit that, and _she_ chose to turn a blind eye to it. Admitting that meant opening a can of worms neither of them was equipped to deal with, as it meant facing everything from the corruption of secrecy to the duality of their relationship and the feelings between them.

Luka was open about his feelings for Marinette, but to the entire world, he had nothing to feel towards Ladybug but gratefulness. On the other hand, even though he had truly tried to move on, it was obvious Chat still wasn’t over Ladybug, and the public believed that one day she would return his feelings – bringing Viperion into the picture would cause too much confusion, and bring about a fair amount of animosity. As for Marinette, she was still recovering from the fresh wounds of loving Adrien, and although she was steadily moving forward, her friends still couldn’t forget the way she almost _obsessively_ clung to the image of him. Everyone knew Luka was slowly moving into the picture, but it was an almost circle-wide conclusion that some more time needed to pass.

So he loved her, and she was slowly falling in love with him, but even though Marinette and Luka maybe _were_ meant to become something more, sometime in the future, Ladybug and Viperion were expected to stay nothing but teammates. Showing any feelings stronger than that meant risking exposing everything – it also meant hurting their friend.

But that friend wasn’t there at the moment.

As the sudden rush of adrenalin overcame her, coupled with the annoyance at the current battle situation, which served to bring to the forefront her annoyance with the overall messy state of their current relationship, Ladybug rose to her toes, grabbed Viperion’s neck and brought his face within an inch from hers – close enough so they could feel each other's breaths on their skin, but still at a distance that didn't allow for closer contact.

Viperion’s eyes glanced downward and he swallowed.

“You better do whatever you can to avoid danger, okay? You’re smart. I know you can do it. You’re going to get up there, you’re going to grab our teammates’ attention, _but you will do everything to avoid the akuma_ , okay?”

Viperion nodded.

With her hands still on him, Ladybug eyed Viperion’s lips, and then met his eyes.

“When this is over, you’re going to ask me – the civilian me – out, and we’re going to solve at least one part of this stupid mess.”

“You’re going to say yes?”, Viperion asked, truly surprised, and Ladybug – Marinette – decided she needed to be _much_ more open with her affections towards the guy standing in front of her.

“I’ve been ready to say yes for a while now”, she responded, and Viperion’s face twisted into an unbearably fond expression.

“Okay”, he sighed. “Okay.”

He brought one of his hands to cup Ladybug’s smaller one, and then he kissed the gloved palm. Ladybug blushed.

“I’ll finish this up quickly”, he said, and then ran out of their cover, leaving Ladybug to hope that he would still be careful, even in his rush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that provided inspiration for this story was Follow You by Bring Me the Horizon ( https://youtu.be/EfE-tV8Cq00 ), however loosely I've interpreted it.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!


	6. I Don't Want You To Leave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Platonic Lukagami, background Adrinette, Adrigami and Lukanette: After a night of celebration, Kagami and Luka leave the engagement party with mixed feelings they may be eager to share.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again with the thinking but also, this time with lukagami! I already wrote a piece about the two of them - it's the first or second mlb fic I've written and published - and they have decided to invade my thoughts once again, and guess what? A sequel is in the works (it's seriously giving me a headache which is unfair considering it /demanded/ to be written in the beginning).
> 
> It's leaning a lot more on the platonic side, considering they're actually discussing the (lack of) relationships between them and Adrien/Marinette, but if you wanna read it in a shippy way be my guest because, in this universe, adrinette is canon (my poor lukanette heart and the things I willingly do to it). It's really mostly an introspective piece, and this one is from Kagami's pov. The sequel will be Luka's time to shine!
> 
> Anyway, I never seem to be able to stop my rambling, but here it goes. I hope you enjoy the story!

“Guys, thank you _so much_ for coming! It really, really means a lot!", Marinette said, grinning from ear to ear, a little tipsy but mostly stable on her feet. "Especially you, Kagami, flying in all the way from Japan…”

“It was nothing”, Kagami replied, shaking her head slightly. “Actually, you didn’t think I’d miss one of my closest friends’ engagement party, did you?”, she smiled, reaching out to squeeze Marinette’s shoulder. Marinette returned the smile with one of her own, before dragging Kagami into an enthusiastic hug, which she accepted, fondly exasperated at her friend’s lack of restraint due to the amount of alcohol she ingested. She was not to be judged, though – this day was certainly one of the best days in Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s very eventful life. Said woman relaxed her hold on Kagami just a little, so she could turn to look at another one of their friends standing off to the side, watching in amusement.

“Don’t just stand there and grin to yourself, Luka. Come on, join in!”

She emphasized her request by waving him over with one hand, the other still tightly grasping at Kagami. Luka chuckled and slowly walked over to join the hug, careful not to intrude too much on Kagami’s personal space. She didn’t mind Marinette squeezing the life out of her – especially now – for sure, but she wasn’t a tactile person, and Kagami and Luka certainly weren’t at the level of closeness which allowed for such a contact, even after knowing each other for almost a decade.

“Don’t suffocate the poor woman, Mari. You don’t want to go to jail for manslaughter before getting married”, Luka joked, and Marinette pouted at him only for a second, too high on the blissful day (and drunk on at least two bottles of expensive red wine) to pay much attention to her dear friend’s usual teasing.

“Don’t you worry about Kagami, she can take care of herself”, she said, before frowning a bit and pulling away from the hug to look at Kagami. “Are you _sure_ you want to stay over at a hotel? Adrien and I could make room for you at our place, or at least find someone else willing to take you in.”

“I’m sure, Marinette”, Kagami replied, raising an eyebrow at the suggestion that she needed someone to _‘take her in’_. “I don’t want to impose on anyone, let alone a couple who just celebrated their engagement and probably has… _better_ things to do than to take care of me.”

Marinette blushed slightly at her friend’s teasing words, but then sighed and smiled, shaking her head.

"Well, I knew the answer, but you can’t blame me for trying."

She turned to Luka.

"You're going in the roughly same direction, right? Make sure she doesn't grab a taxi straight to the airport and fly away to Japan immediately."

Luka chuckled, promising that he would, while Kagami side-eyed her friend who couldn’t seem to let go of her annoyance at that _one-time_ occurrence.

“Mother needed me back urgently”, she defended herself. Marinette shook her head but said nothing, and soon the three were saying their goodbyes.

"I'd call Adrien over to see you out, but…"

The three of them looked in the direction of said blond man, who was passed out on a chair, laying his head on his best friend's shoulder. Nino shot them a sheepish look and waved at them with his free hand, and Kagami and Luka waved back, Kagami sighing with an amused smile on her face, while Luka laughed.

“It’s all right”, he said. “He’s had a busy night. Let’s hope he wakes up before the owner tries to chase you away, though”, he chuckled, prompting a tiny snort from Marinette, and with one last wave, Luka and Kagami found themselves outside on the cold winter air, trudging through snow that had unexpectedly piled up overnight. Kagami cursed internally (because polite women didn’t do such a thing out loud) at her choice of footwear, but refused to show any signs of discomfort, stubbornly walking in pace with Luka, who – ever the thoughtful man – seemed to slow down his usual gait.

Nothing was said for a few moments, both of them swimming in their own heads, processing the events of the night. Kagami was rubbing her gloveless hands together, eyes in front of her but unfocused, while Luka walked with his head raised to the sky, watching the snowflakes fall.

Eventually, he was the first to break the silence.

“You okay?”

Kagami glanced at him sideways, looked at his raised head, and wondered if he was trying to stop gravity from doing its thing. She blew out a breath.

"Of course", she responded curtly, and the silence continued for a while longer.

* * *

It was a stupid thing, Kagami thought, being so hung up on feelings from the past. Years had passed since she and Adrien had had their teenage fling, and it was _her_ who put a stop to it in the first place. _Her_ who said that in the end, she believed they would be better off as friends.

(It was _him_ , though, that was in love with someone else for the entirety of their short-lived relationship.)

She never quite understood why she never seemed to be able to forget him. Maybe it was the syndrome of first love. Maybe it was the intrigue at the fact that their upbringing had been so similar, yet the two of them so different. Perhaps the fact that they had stayed good friends throughout their adolescence and early adulthood led to her comparing every potential suitor to the boy who was the first to make her think that love may not be such a stupid, unnecessary thing after all.

Maybe she was just bad at admitting defeat and letting go.

She had to let go. She had to, because no matter how dear Adrien was to her, and no matter how unmistakably romantic her feelings towards him were, Marinette was just as dear, just as close, and maybe even more important to her. Marinette was the first female friend Kagami had made, and it happened through hard work; through fighting against misunderstandings and wrongful judgments of character. She was the person who helped her become more friendly, who gave her opportunities to form bonds she always feared she wouldn’t be able to create. Marinette decided to open her heart to Kagami all those years ago, even though Kagami was taking the one she loved away from her. It was only fair for Kagami to do the same. Both of them, Adrien _and_ Marinette, were too important to let something as fragile as background love destroy years of friendship future and past, Kagami decided months ago, when through silent tears she congratulated her best friend's engagement to the friend she loved.

She turned to look at Luka again.

Luka was always a strange person to her. Out of four of them, she'd argue, he was the one who fought for what he wanted the least. He seemed to be satisfied just standing on the sideline, watching, analyzing, supporting - hoping but never pushing for anything. If she were honest, she never liked that about him. She believed his lack of active involvement was a sign of weakness. At one point, in the early days after her break up with Adrien, and his and Marinette's slowly building relationship, she actually resented Luka – Kagami believed that if only he'd tried _a little bit_ harder…

But that was a story long bygone.

She never knew how to read him, and that was true even now. A fairly successful musician, Luka still managed to keep his private life well hidden from the public’s prying eyes. The last relationship-related thing she’d heard about him through the grapevine was that he was dating a new up and coming musician – but that turned out to be a false rumor, as they were simply working on a collaboration. He was the audience’s favorite mystery to solve, but Kagami wasn’t so fond of mysteries herself. She liked knowing outright what she was getting into.

(A professional deformation, perhaps – in the world of corporate business, mysteries never meant anything good.)

As if sensing her eyes on him, Luka turned around to catch Kagami’s gaze. For one reason or another, she didn’t look away (she remembered Marinette laughing, although proudly, at him placing third on a “Most Beautiful Eyes in the Music Industry” poll a year or two ago). The way his eyes bore into hers may have made her uncomfortable yesterday – it may make her uncomfortable tomorrow – but right now, she felt no reason to look away. Right now, she felt there was nothing the two of them could hide from each other.

“…When are you leaving?”, Luka asked. Kagami’s lack of reaction spoke of the sort of understanding only two people in such similar situations could share.

"Tomorrow night. I have some business I need to attend to. I've barely managed to clear up my schedule to be able to come to this party."

Luka turned away, humming in affirmation, and his next question once again failed to surprise either of them.

"Do you want to come over? My place is close – well, relatively. It's half an hour away on foot, but we can call a taxi, if you're too cold or tired."

Kagami didn’t answer right away.

“I hope you know this isn’t an invitation to… You know. Do something we’d both regret”, he said, somewhat amused at the thought alone. “And I’m sure that the hotel you’re staying at is the best of the best, and might even be better than my apartment, but I thought… I don’t know, maybe you’d want some company.”

She looked at him.

“I know _I_ would”, he continued, suddenly chuckling. “I mean, it’s not every day that you celebrate the engagement of your close friend, who also happens to be someone you never learned to let go of your feelings for”, he said, a somewhat bitter expression making its way across his face. “I could use someone to talk to. Or”, and he smiled at her, “someone _not_ to talk to. Whichever you prefer.”

Kagami let herself laugh at that quietly, but _still_ didn’t say anything.

"…I've got a comfortable extra bed, lots of warm blankets and alcohol, tea, and hot chocolate. Whatever your heart desires", he supplied, and Kagami, who planned on accepting his offer from the start, looked at Luka with a smile surprisingly wide and sincere, and finally agreed.

“I can’t think of many people who would refuse such an offer from _you_ ", she joked. After a few seconds of somewhat stunned silence, during which the redness of his cheeks increased, Luka laughed, offering Kagami his arm for her to hold onto.

“Here. The pavement is very slippery, and you are not wearing shoes appropriate for this weather”, he said, and Kagami shot him a glare, annoyed at his attentive eye, but still hooked her hand on his elbow. “Well then, shall we walk, or would you prefer a taxi?”, Luka asked, and even though it was slight, Kagami noticed a shift in his demeanor – he was more relaxed, more friendly. More open.

She looked at the relatively clear sky, and the pleasant haze of street lamps illuminating the dark winter streets.

“You said it is half an hour away?”

Luka nodded.

“Then”, Kagami tightened her hold on his arm, “lead the way. We’ve got time. And the air is pleasantly crisp.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I even need to emphasize that the story is /loosely/ based on a song anymore. It's always loosely. I just hear a song that makes me write the first sentence and then I roll with it.
> 
> Anyway, this time it was Sam Smith's Stay With Me (https://youtu.be/9Imk7kIpgos). Hope you enjoyed the story and see you next time!


	7. When You're With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Platonic Lukagami, background Adrinette, Adrigami and Lukanette: Warm and comfortable in Luka's apartment, Kagami and Luka open up to each other. (Sequel to chapter 6)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I promised, here's the continuation of the previous chapter, this time from Luka's pov. Also it got a little bit longer than I planned it to be. Also it gave me a headache, but it's still my child and I still love it, dammit.
> 
> /Also/ Luka and Kagami deserve all the spotlight they can get, thank you. Canon isn't gonna give it to them? Well then, don't mind /me/.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“Here”, Luka said, placing a steaming cup of chamomile tea on Kagami’s side of the table. Kagami mumbled out a _“thank you”_ and reached for the cup right away, eager to warm her cold hands up. The tea was still hot, so the contrast in temperatures made for a somewhat painful sensation, but Kagami paid little mind to it. Luka sat himself down on the opposite end of the couch, putting his own mug in front of him ( _“Are you sure just tea is fine?” “Yes, thank you”_ ), and the two let a comfortable silence wash over them once again.

The walk to Luka’s apartment had been a pleasant one – it _was_ cold, but that helped them both focus and calm their minds, and the soft crunch of snow beneath their feet proved to be much less annoying when you had an arm to hold onto. They didn’t talk much, but they exchanged a few interesting stories. By the time they'd arrived at their destination, they had both eased up around one another. They made a short stop at a nearby 24-hour store so Kagami could pick up some necessities, then Luka led them into a relatively small apartment on the fourth floor.

“I will be honest, I expected it to be bigger”, Kagami commented, and Luka chuckled.

“I don’t have much need for a bigger apartment. Mom rarely comes over, Jules and Rose rarely _stay_ over, even though I have a guest bed, and I usually don't meet up with friends in here. Plus, I have a whole other apartment turned into a studio", he said and then pointed upwards. "It's on the seventh floor. Don't worry – it's soundproof. I don't disturb the neighbors", he joked, and Kagami smiled, still standing somewhat stiffly in the hall. Luka, noticing this, offered to take her coat and then showed her where to place her shoes. “You can go sit in the living room now, and I’ll be right back with our refreshments. Unless you need to use the bathroom first – it's the second door on the right."

Kagami thanked him and then excused herself after telling him that tea would be very nice.

Some ten minutes later they were sat on his couch, but Luka got up quickly after, went to his room, and then returned with two hand-knitted blankets.

“In case the tea doesn’t warm us up”, he offered, and Kagami nodded and took one of the soft blankets, half-unfolding it over her thighs and knees.

There was an unspoken agreement that they wouldn’t go to sleep until late in the night – or more precisely, early in the morning – so neither felt compelled to rush things and start any sort of conversation. Luka still wasn’t sure if Kagami even _wanted_ to talk. He’d told her he’d be fine with her just sitting there next to him in silence, and he had been honest. He simply didn’t want to spend this night alone; and considering she was in a situation very similar to his (some would argue it was the same, but there were nuances), he felt she might need some company - _his_ company - as well.

* * *

It wasn’t as if both of them were still _crazy in love_ with either Marinette or Adrien, but the point still stood that they had just returned from the engagement party of the two people they were most romantically drawn to. Luka _had_ dated after Marinette – well, he’d never actually _dated_ Marinette, but when some time had passed, and he saw there was no hope for him, his feelings naturally started to wane, and he'd allowed himself to entertain the thoughts of someone other than her by his side. Some relationships were great, and some were a train wreck - for one reason or the other, though, he'd never been able to get rid of his feelings for Marinette completely. Things would be going great in his relationship, and he'd think he was in love (and a few times he really _was_ in love), but then things would take a turn for the worse, and he’d be left alone in an empty apartment. And every time, without fail, she’d be there to support him, lending him both an ear and a shoulder to cry on, just as he had done for her.

After a while he’d just come to accept the fact that the feelings of friendship he had for Marinette would always be intertwined with romantic love, however quietly that particular song played in his head.

He never resented Adrien, even though the two of them had never become that close – that was one of the main differences between his and Kagami’s situation. She was a close friend to both of them, while Luka was always _Marinette’s_ friend first, and he was Adrien’s friend _through_ Marinette. The man was all sunshine and rainbows though, kind and attentive and loving, and he’d matured a lot from his innocent (and somewhat ignorant) teenage days. Everybody joked that Luka would make Adrien pay if he ever hurt Marinette; and although that was true, the reality was that Adrien would be right next to Luka – actually, he would be the first in line – making the life of the one who caused Marinette’s suffering a living hell. Luka felt nothing but respect and a decent amount of like for the younger man, and any feelings of envy that would surface from time to time would be squashed immediately by Adrien's million-dollars smile.

* * *

While he was lost in _his_ musings, Kagami was lost in her own. Neither had said a word while they were drinking their tea, and by the time he’d finished his cup, Luka had come to believe they would spend the night in silence. But then, Kagami put down her cup, shifted in her seat to face Luka more directly, and blew out a breath, as if steeling herself, forcing out words she’d rather not even think about, let alone say.

“It’s silly, isn’t it. Being so hung up on something that should have been left behind a long time ago”, she sighed, disappointment (at whom or what, he could only guess) evident in her voice.

Luka smiled sadly and lowered his head, giving a slight nod in agreement. He raised his head back up to look at Kagami and saw that she had bitten her lower lip (Marinette told him that was a nervous habit of hers), and that she wasn't exactly looking _at_ him, but _through_ him. That allowed him to study her without making her uncomfortable, and, as it’s been quite some time since he’d last seen her before tonight, he gladly took it.

She was always a pretty face, and she’d grown to become an exceptional beauty; but where Marinette was all gentle and soft features, Kagami was sharp lines and perfectly structured bones, dignity and pride reflected in her eyes. Although he didn't pay much attention to her world, he knew she had the reputation of a woman who knew what she wanted and never let anyone fool her, and her – some would say – cold beauty only served to strengthen those beliefs. She wore a mask of steel, and for this reason, many would be surprised to learn how strongly she felt about some people. To Luka, it was no surprise – the strength of her character was reflected in the strength of her feelings for people dear to her. That, Luka thought, was the most beautiful thing about her – the way her eyes would light up, and her entire expression melt at the sight of the ones she cared about.

Kagami shifted in her seat, bringing Luka back to reality, and opened up her blanket and covered herself. Luka felt that rather than being cold, she needed to form some kind of shield around her. Even with the two of them sitting there in his living room, opening up to each other, he was far from being someone she felt completely safe around. He hoped that this night would change that. He hoped that, with everything they’ve just lost, they’d at least gain a confidante. A new friend.

“We’re all adults now”, she continued after a long pause, frustration echoing in her voice, “and that was a- those were _childish crushes_ , weren’t they? First loves and all of that”, she said, frowning, as she bent her knees and raised her legs onto the couch, head leaning on the back of it uncomfortably. Luka mimicked her movements, lifting his feet as well, careful not to touch her.

“Well, you know what they say – you never forget your first love. Besides, look at Adrien and Marinette”, Luka joked, and Kagami huffed.

“It’s not the same. They _nurtured_ those feelings. _Ours_ were left to die out. They were _supposed_ to die out", she said, somewhat annoyed, and Luka smiled gently, trying to catch her eye. After failing to pretend she didn’t feel him looking at her, Kagami turned around and held Luka’s gaze. He liked that she didn’t flinch at its intensity. He was often told the way he looked at someone like he was looking directly into their soul, was unnerving.

“Maybe we just feel too strongly”, he said quietly, his voice carrying a slight shiver. “Maybe we fell in love with two extraordinary people.”

Kagami snorted at that, and Luka was caught off guard – she’d learned to relax over the years, sure, but a _snort_ was still something he didn’t expect to hear from _Kagami_. Least of all after he called Adrien and Marinette extraordinary. She couldn’t be laughing at _that_ , could she?

Realizing his train of thought, Kagami rolled her eyes (she _rolled her eyes_ ), but still blushed a little.

“ _I_ think”, she said, pretending the last few seconds never happened, “that we’re just too stubborn to let go of some things. That we refuse to accept the situation for what it is – our loss. Maybe we don’t like losing.”

“Maybe we’re too romantic”, Luka interjected, and the blank stare he got from Kagami was just the reaction he was hoping for. He laughed, a full, loud laugh, and Kagami blinked a few times before a wide smile spread across her face.

“No, you’re right. At least partially”, she said. “ _You’re_ too romantic. You probably find _this_ outcome – the broken hearts, the lost chances – to be romantic in a way as well”. She narrowed her eyes. “You might be a masochist.”

Again, Luka laughed, but thought better of replying with _“well you might be, too”_ , and instead opted to agree.

“This situation does _inspire_ quite a bit. I could write an entire album about it – if the ending to that wouldn’t be us complicating things much more and receiving pitying gazes from everyone, _especially_ Marinette and Adrien.”

Kagami glared at him.

“Do that, and I swear you won’t _live_ to see their pitying gazes. I’m still a great fencer. I could easily find a real sword somewhere.”

Luka chuckled, eyes shining in mirth.

“Getting on your bad side? I wouldn’t _dream_ of it.”

Kagami nodded, satisfied with the answer, and smiled at the compliment she received. Luka, pointing at her empty mug, asked, _“may I?”_ , and after receiving an affirmative answer, left to take their mugs to the kitchen. He returned with some snacks (he was getting hungry), but Kagami rejected the offer, saying she couldn’t eat so late in the evening. Or early in the morning. Luka accepted her answer and continued snacking on some peanuts by himself. Minutes passed. Kagami sighed.

“Do you think”, she asked, eyes closed, “that we’ll finally move on after this? After they get married? I hate thinking that a part of me would still feel… sad, disappointed, regretful, even on the happiest day of their lives. They’re my dearest friends”, she said honestly. “I want them to be happy. _I_ want to feel happy for them. I _do_ feel happy for them, just…”, she trailed off, frustrated, but Luka understood what she was trying to say.

“Of course. Of course, Kagami”, he said, all the lightness in his behavior replaced by seriousness, and then, somewhat hesitantly, reached out to touch the hand leaning on her knee. She opened her eyes and looked at his hand on hers, but didn’t pull away. Luka squeezed her hand a bit tighter.

“I’m happy for them as well. Truly”, he emphasized, “ _truly_ happy. But that- that doesn’t mean that I can’t – that _we_ can’t – be heartbroken as well”, he said, leaning closer to Kagami, looking her directly in the eyes. He _needed her_ to understand what he was trying to say.

“Kagami, our feelings of sorrow _don’t_ take away from our feelings of happiness. We _can be_ both happy and sad at the same time. It's just as natural being broken-hearted over a lost love as it is being thrilled at a dear friend's joy. And those aren't feelings that _negate_ each other. They _co-exist_.”

While he was talking, Kagami never once looked away, which is why Luka was able to pinpoint the exact moment her eyes turned glassy and a few teardrops started forming in their corners. He didn’t say anything, simply kept his grip on her as if to say that he was there, he knew, he _understood_. Kagami, after letting the tears fall freely, squeezed the hand that held hers and reached for Luka’s other hand, squeezing that one just as tightly, and soon sobs started escaping her mouth, and her cries weren’t silent anymore. Seeing her so vulnerable was all it took for Luka to begin crying as well, and Kagami couldn’t help but laugh at their pathetic state. Luka joined right in, and sobs mixed in with laughter, and their tears fell into their open mouths. Kagami, in a move very unlike her, cut the distance between them to lean her head on Luka’s shoulder. Luka, in turn, leaned _his_ head on hers, and he let go of one of her hands so he could cradle the back of her head. Kagami used her freed hand to grab at Luka's shirt, gripping so tightly wrinkles were sure to appear. They rocked like that no one knows how long, going back and forth between crying and laughing and just silently sitting, finding comfort in each other.

Slowly, Kagami pulled away.

“I hope I don’t need to stress that what happened here _never_ leaves this room”, she half-threatened, her sniffles stopping her from sounding as intimidating as she would like. Luka chuckled, one hand still holding onto hers, and he shook it as if they were closing a contract.

"You have my solemn word", he said seriously, and then offered her a sincere smile, which she returned, before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Luka did the same, and just like that, a drastic but invisible change occurred in a small apartment on the fourth floor of one of Paris’ many buildings.

* * *

In the following hours, where they talked about everything _but_ their feelings, the conversation from the start of the evening – the morning – it didn't matter in the end – waned in their heads until all that was left of it were two chests lighter than ever before, two people closer than before, and a redness around their eyes that wouldn't disappear for a while longer.

Late morning found them both still on the couch, blankets tightly wound around their bodies, heads leaning on each other’s, and barely visible trails of tears reflecting the light of a new day on their peaceful faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So technically, because this is a sequel to the previous story, this too was inspired by Sam Smith's Stay With Me, but you know what? I'm cheating and I don't care, this is /my/ fic collection. And the song fits. So we're just gonna pretend this was inspired by Niall Horan's No Judgement ( https://youtu.be/gJGX8EYTEN4 ). Don't judge me. (Badum-tss)


	8. Te Puedo Enamorar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lukanette: An annoying event that happens while Luka is away on tour forces Marinette to reevaluate her feelings. Tikki watches on while munching on stress-baked cookies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This. Goddamn. Story. Killed me. It went out of control, I don't know what happened, it's half as long as the rest of all the stories in this collection. It's almost 6000 words long. How??? Did that happen??? I am so tired. I don't even know what else to write in the notes. I guess nothing but:
> 
> I reeeeally hope you enjoy! 😂

Marinette was sat on her chair, elbows leaning on her desk. Her head was leaning on her clasped hands, and her legs bouncing nervously. Tikki eyed her from her spot on the top of the computer but said nothing as she munched on her third cookie – and more cookies were waiting, too. Marinette said it was a treat because “ _Tikki deserved to eat as many cookies as she wanted to all of the time”_ and not just after she'd exhausted her strength and needed to recover. The kwami, however, saw it for what it was – the result of stress baking.

(Marinette stress baked often. Tikki, although she hated seeing her friend nervous, couldn't exactly complain about the results – Marinette's cookies were always delicious.)

Out of love for her friend, and an attempt to ease her nerves at least a little, Tikki kept herself from commenting on anything, choosing instead to enjoy her caramel biscuits and choco-chips. She was waiting for her chosen’s _friend_ to connect to a video call they’d agreed they’d have a little more than a week ago, before the… _fiasco_ happened.

Although Tikki thought that the whole thing ended _quite_ well – things could have gotten messy, and the current outcome was _far_ from a bad one.

Still, Tikki was not to show herself, so she wouldn’t say anything _unnecessary_ (not that she _would_ , but the kwami wasn’t going to argue with her wielder over this). Marinette was having a hard time calming down her thoughts, which was ridiculous because they’d spoken just yesterday. Maybe she couldn’t see his face, but she could hear his voice- but then, even _that_ was enough to make her jittery. Tikki guessed that, even though she tried to be calm and collected, even though she was _preparing_ herself for this video call, and even further, for his return, Marinette couldn’t help the nervous energy coursing through her veins.

Why? Because exactly a week ago, after a scandalous untruth was written about Luka for the first time in his promising career, Marinette had to sit down with herself and admit that things weren’t the same as they used to be.

Or, at least, her _feelings_ weren’t the same.

* * *

Touring with a world-famous rock star, and one so eccentric at that, proved to be something that left little time for Luka to actually sit down and have a face to (computer screen to) face with his friends and family at home. He barely managed to _call_ Marinette when he’d somehow succeed in sneaking away from rehearsals, or jam sessions, or whatever _excellent_ idea Jagged came up with. He didn’t _exactly_ make them work non-stop, but he _did_ make them – well, Luka, mostly – spend almost every waking hour with him. Luka hated it. Marinette found it amusing.

(Anarka threatened to choke Jagged with his own strings if he didn't let her son breathe. Jagged backed off, for a while, before he forgot about his terror because Jagged was Jagged, and he had a short term memory when it came to things he didn't like.)

Mostly, though, because of the reasons aforementioned and the fact that, for at least two legs of the tour, they were in drastically different time zones, Marinette and Luka kept their communication to text messages, video messages, and anything that didn't have to be checked out immediately. It was a little lonely, but Marinette was overjoyed for her friend, and not even the fact that he'd be gone for a year was able to reduce her excitement and general happiness when she sent him off that winter day to start pursuing his dreams. Besides, if his _family_ could spare him, Marinette could too, couldn’t she?

Well, that initial excitement started disappearing a lot sooner than even _Tikki_ had expected – and Tikki expected it, because she saw much more than her chosen would probably be happy with.

(She didn’t comment anything back then, either.)

Admittedly, the first month flew by for both of them, and their conversations back then were kept very short; a message to let her know he’d arrived in whichever new city they were playing at, a picture always sent to her first, before being published on his _official pages_ on Instagram and Twitter, or a good luck message that was at times just a gif because Marinette was just as busy as he was. They were both, but Luka especially, getting used to the new tempo of their lives, and they hadn’t found their balance yet. However, after the first month, things changed. Marinette was still very busy, and Luka was still being jerked around by Jagged (and he was _also_ busy, Jagged, and some people _do_ need to sleep), but they found a rhythm that allowed them to hear from each other more often. They had longer phone calls, and even decided they would try having video calls whenever they could. _That_ was when the warning signs started appearing.

For Marinette, at least, because Tikki already knew.

(Just like Luka knew, and Tikki was promised an entire suitcase of the best sweets from all around the world.)

The first time Luka had to hang up on her because Jagged was dragging him out to meet some people, Marinette spent a good minute frowning at her computer. She happened to have an entire day off, and Luka told her he’d have quite a bit of free time himself; they promised they’d spend a good amount of that time on a video call. She was _really_ looking forward to it, and he seemed to be very happy about it, too, and he was visibly annoyed when Jagged came in and basically cut the call off himself. It was unfair, because it was the first time they saw each other’s faces (not on a picture) after a month and a half, and Marinette’s heart was, admittedly, beating a little faster than usual. She didn’t exactly pay much mind to it and, frankly, she didn’t have _enough time_ _to_ , because almost as soon as Luka's face appeared on her computer screen, he disappeared, leaving her disappointed and, well, angry.

But Marinette wasn’t angry with _Jagged_ – well, not _only_ with Jagged – and so she spent an entire day stress baking, because you do _not_ get angry at your friend when he fails to fight against his eccentric (and very selfish, Marinette muttered every few minutes) _boss_ and cuts the first long conversation you were supposed to have in _weeks_ shorter than planned.

“I’m a horrible friend, aren’t I, Tikki?”, Marinette sighed then, after she buried her head in her flour-covered hands. Tikki flew up to her and patted her head, trying to reassure her that that wasn’t the case, but the kwami refrained from saying anything else. She saw the way her chosen’s love life seemed to crash and burn whenever anybody from the outside was involved, even if they tried to help. Besides, Marinette was smart, and not even she could pretend that The Nile was only a river in Egypt for too long, no matter how hard she was trying to do just that.

When Luka called her two days later, apologizing with a song (in his _“I want to make you laugh and I’m not afraid to use music for that”_ kind of way), Marinette couldn't help the delighted giggle that escaped her mouth. The cherry on top was seeing Jagged grovel on the floor because he had hurt his favorite young designer; he'd promised he would never do such a thing again – but well, _that_ was a lie. Luka promised to refuse him as often as he could, though, and that was more than enough for Marinette.

The smile she kept for three entire days after that – Tikki counted – earned her a knowing smile from her parents, but Marinette didn’t see it, and _they_ never said anything either.

* * *

After that first time, Marinette did her best to control her disappointment whenever something came up that prevented them from having their scheduled video call. She knew Luka couldn’t always get away from whatever last-minute idea Jagged came up with. It wouldn’t be fair towards Luka if she held that over him – and the time they could spend talking that way was short and precious, anyway. Marinette didn’t want to waste it on bad moods – and the fact that Luka seemed to be exhausted most of the time gave her reasons to believe he wouldn’t be as patient with her as usual. So, whenever she was mad or pouty, Marinette did something that relaxed her or made her smile – that was how Tikki ended up with a bunch of cookies to eat, but also a cute new hat; her parents both received some new articles of clothing, too.

Tikki didn’t dare tease Marinette about the fact that most of the things she’d made, she made with Luka in mind. Not because she was scared Marinette would get angry with her – although that was very likely to happen – but because she didn’t want to scare Marinette away from the path she was walking on, that led to a certain guitarist half the world away.

Things didn't exactly end up working with her first love and after that, Marinette was too busy – too busy with her new school, with her amateur design work that started garnering more attention, and also, too busy moonlighting as a superhero and a Guardian. Tikki still felt guilty about the fact that she was a factor in making a young girl’s life much harder than it needed to be. She often wondered whether Master Fu’s idea really _had been_ the best, and whether there was a way they could have avoided it. She tried to make up for it by being the best confidant she could, by offering Marinette advice, encouragement, by being her shoulder to cry on, her pillar of support, everything she needed.

It was a relief as much as it was a shock when they found out Luka _knew_.

After an initial period of freak-outs and angry lash-outs and a lot of crying because _“I’m a failure, Tikki!”_ , Marinette decided to give Luka a chance to prove himself worthy of her trust. Throughout all of that, the boy stayed patient, kind, understanding, and a faithful friend as always. Marinette couldn’t stay mad at him for too long. It wasn’t exactly his fault that he found out, and both Tikki and Luka assured her that it wasn’t _her_ fault, either. When she accepted that there was another person that knew her secret, and what was more, that that person was someone she could trust _unconditionally_ , Marinette felt a huge weight being lifted from her chest. Rather than it disappearing, though, it felt like Luka was sharing it with her – which was exactly what he was doing. She sometimes feared that it would become too much for him (because she still had to deal with her insecurities), but every time she felt like he would leave her, Luka would show just how intent he was on staying.

That was one of the reasons he didn’t want to go on tour, but Marinette wanted no word of it – he wasn’t about to sacrifice his future for her. What Luka tried very hard to hide, but Tikki nevertheless saw in his eyes (and Marinette consciously or not, did her best _not_ to see), was that he would sacrifice almost anything for her. Tikki was not ashamed to say that ever since she realized just how much he’d loved Marinette, even when he was trying his best not to, she was decisively on his side. This was why she kept her (well, she didn't _have_ a nose, but that wasn’t important) nose out of their love-business. They were in a delicate dance, and one wrong move could lead to an outcome she knew _no one_ wanted. Luka didn’t exactly believe Marinette was _in love_ with him, but he knew how much he meant to her, and he wasn’t about to risk that. He’d promised himself, years ago, that he would _always_ be her friend first, regardless of his feelings.

Except Tikki also knew it had been a long time since Marinette only saw him as a friend.

She was afraid, though. Their past didn’t exactly lend itself to a good start of a romance. When he was in love with her, she was obsessed with someone else. Marinette was aware of all the ways she'd hurt him because of her feelings and didn't believe she had any right to be upset that he had gotten over her, and that he now only thought of her as a friend.

(Except Tikki knew Luka had never gotten over her and- _ugh_ , humans, especially young ones, were frustrating sometimes.)

The belief that Luka only saw her as a friend was what kept Marinette from even _thinking_ they could be anything else. _That_ led to her acting as if _she_ thought of him as nothing more than a friend, and she tried her very hardest to not only convince everyone around her, but _herself_ as well. Tikki would even argue she was trying to convince herself first, and then if everyone else also came to believe it, that would be a bonus.

No one looking in from the outside believed her for a second; Luka believed her because Luka was someone who always put others’ feelings first, and he would never push onto Marinette feelings that she didn’t express; Marinette believed herself out of necessity. Tikki was sure her chosen spent at least a minute every morning repeating _“I don’t love him I don’t love him I don’t love him”_ in her head. And that was _before_ the tour. She probably spent at least ten minutes on that mantra now that the tour was ending. But it hasn’t been working for a while now – and the article published in the _Teenthrob_ magazine forced her to finally admit the truth.

* * *

The morning started like almost any other, except Marinette was slightly more cheerful because Luka had sent her a good morning message – their time zones were only two hours apart – and along with it a picture of him surrounded by kittens and puppies.

 _“We’re promoting their adoption”_ , the caption read, and Marinette sent a message assuring him that those little cuties would be adopted in no time. Luka miraculously responded within three minutes with a fingers-crossed emoji, and a hope he'd be able to call her later in the day. Marinette, smiling softly, responded with, _"I hope so, too"_ ; she debated whether she should put a heart next to the message. In the end, she decided to put in a blue heart, because blue hearts were not red and they were safe to send to your friends.

Not that she was thinking much about the logistics and the meanings behind the hearts when about an hour later, she opened a sinister-sounding message from Juleka.

_“Thought I should send it to you before anybody else does. Don’t believe a word. I don’t know if Luka saw it yet, but we can’t reach him.”_

_“It’s literally all gossip, Marinette”_ , her second message read, and Marinette steeled herself to open the link her friend attached to the messages.

Tikki could pinpoint the exact moment Marinette turned into a green monster and, deciding that being snapped at wasn’t bad enough to deter her from offering her friend support, perched herself atop Marinette’s head, and started patting her lightly. Then she glanced at the phone tightly clenched in Marinette’s trembling hands.

The kwami no longer wondered why Marinette’s friend’s messages attempted to calm her before she even opened the article. Marinette had many virtues, but she had just as many faults, and one of her biggest ones was – jealousy.

The picture showed Luka’s back as he was holding an attractive young woman’s waist, while she hung all over him, and the expression on her face was so convoluted, Tikki couldn’t exactly say what the woman was thinking, except that it wasn’t anything good. She actually reminded her of Lila – and Tikki hoped Marinette didn’t think of that as well, because it would only make her mood worse. The article blabbed about a possible romance between Jagged’s handsome new guitarist and an up and coming model, and even though it tried very hard to sell the story, people close to Luka could immediately tell it was just a media stunt. Marinette was sure to know that, too, but knowing and accepting were two different things, and the kwami (somewhat impatiently) waited for her friend to say anything.

Marinette let out a heavy, trembling sigh.

“Tikki?”, she called for the kwami, and Tikki lowered herself from the top of Marinette’s head to her eye-level. The eyes, Tikki was surprised, didn’t scream murder – they spoke of resignation.

“I’m in love with Luka”, she said softly, and it wasn’t a question, but Tikki nodded nonetheless. Marinette sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, scratching at her scalp. The kwami thought these were all good signs – she wasn’t yelling, wasn’t denying, simply stating the facts. Marinette took a deep breath, then another, and while she slowly exhaled, sat herself down on a chair. She turned to look at the pictures plastered all over her wall and focused on the one where she and Luka were hugging each other, laughing on the deck of her favorite houseboat.

“What do I do now?”, she asked the kwami, never moving her eyes away from the picture.

“You talk to him”, Tikki answered simply.

Marinette blew at her bangs.

“What if he doesn’t love me back?”, she asked quietly, without any emotion in her voice, and Tikki smiled.

“You’ll still have said what _needed_ to be said. Marinette, you and I both know you can’t keep pretending otherwise”, Tikki responded, floating over to her wielder. Marinette removed her gaze from the wall, and her eyes settled on the kwami floating in front of her. Tikki smirked.

“Besides”, she said in a sickly-sweet voice, “do you still _really_ believe he doesn’t?”

Marinette blushed and lowered her gaze but didn’t answer.

“Everything is going to change”, she whispered, shivering, and Tikki sent her a soft smile.

“That doesn’t mean it’s going to change for the worse.”

Marinette nodded and then raised her head, and Tikki was very pleased to see a small smile forming on her face. She still seemed somewhat unsure, and quite a bit scared, but there was also determination shining in her eyes. Tikki loved it when she saw that determination on Marinette’s face.

“I’m going to tell him”, Marinette said seriously, nodding in approval at her decision, but then winced. “Oh, but I should wait until he comes back, shouldn’t I? Or, well, I guess I don’t really _have_ _to_ , but I’d still like to tell him _in person_ , not over the phone or a, a computer screen-”

“However you think is best, Marinette, that’s how you should do it”, Tikki encouraged her, smiling. “I’ll be here to support you.”

Marinette took her kwami and nuzzled her, thanking her over and over again, and Tikki giggled, delighted at the day’s turn of events – when Marinette received that message, Tikki feared she’d spend the next few days trying to coax Marinette back into the real world.

Her chosen really had grown, Tikki thought affectionately.

“’M gonna tell him", Marinette mumbled once again and then let her kwami fly away from her, so she could let out a squeal that led to her mother climbing up to her room in worry.

* * *

Luka called her the next day. He sounded scared, Marinette noted, but also very exhausted and angry, and she wanted nothing more than to hug him and let him know that everything would be okay. The best she could do, though, was assure him that there was no need for him to excuse himself to her – she knew none of it was true, and she was certainly not surprised when Luka said that the woman had acted drunk and he simply caught her when she fell onto him.

In a move very unlike Luka, he grumbled that he should have just let her fall to the floor, and Marinette couldn't stop the surprised but amused laugh that left her. It was a good thing she couldn't control it, too; because immediately she could feel a change in Luka – she couldn't see him, but she could imagine the way his tense shoulders relaxed and his lips spread into a small (‘ _and affectionate’_ , Marinette thought, heart beating faster) smile. He had to hang up – they were still busy doing damage control, which was why he was unable to call her the day before – but he promised he would try to call her again tomorrow.

“I know you’re busy, you don’t have to”, Marinette tried to assure him, but Luka surprised her by chuckling somewhat bitterly.

“Yes, very busy because of something incredibly stupid, and honestly, I'm constantly on edge and very pissed off, so talking to people that care about me, and aren't actually involved in this mess – Penny and Jagged and everyone else is extremely helpful and nice, but there's no escaping the annoyance when everyone is working so hard to fix this sh – _anyway_ , I like talking to you”, he finally finished, blowing out a breath, and Marinette could _hear_ _him_ smiling when he said, “You calm me down.”

Marinette blushed in delight and then whispered, _“I’m glad”_. Tikki snickered at her; Marinette pouted and then shooed her away, to say goodbye to Luka.

“The video call still stands?”, he asked, hopeful, and really, that boy was going to be the death of Marinette.

“Of course. Bye Luka.”

“…Bye, Marinette”, Luka almost-whispered, and Marinette spent the next five minutes clutching her phone to her chest.

On the day of the video-call, Marinette felt very nervous – hence the stress baking and a huge plate of cookies for Tikki to attack. She decided that she would wait until Luka came back to tell him that she- _well_ , but she was still looking forward to seeing his face. She had a hunch he’d look worse than usual, which only made her goal of putting a smile on his face that more important. However, she was very scared that she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from looking like an idiot ( _a lovesick idiot_ ), and no amount of deep breaths managed to calm her racing heart down.

“He’s gonna know something is up, and he’s going to think it’s because of the whole magazine thing, and he may get disappointed or sad and- _dammit_ Tikki, stop smirking at me!”, Marinette huffed, but her kwami simply raised her head.

“I’m not smirking at you”, Tikki replied, and Marinette was about to say something when a call alert appeared on her computer. She looked terrified for a moment, before she took a deep breath, whispered _“I can do this”,_ and let Tikki nuzzle her cheek. Then she accepted the call.

“Hey”, Luka greeted from the screen, and Marinette felt an urge to punch that girl even greater than when she first read the article. Luka was smiling at her, but he had bags under his eyes, and he was very obviously trying to mask just how much of a bad mood he was in. Seeing him exhausted wasn't unusual, but there was a different kind of tiredness to him; he liked his job and his bandmates (most of the time), so even when he'd call her exhausted after a busy day, or a day spent with Jagged, there was an underlying satisfaction noticeable in his demeanor. Currently, he was trying very hard not to look like he wanted to strangle somebody. Marinette didn’t like that look on him. It wasn’t because it made her uncomfortable – he had _every_ right to be angry – but because she hated the fact that someone so kind and patient would be brought to that state.

There was only one time she’d seen him this angry.

Maybe it was a good thing he wasn’t in Paris.

"Hey there", Marinette softly replied and then sent him a smile she hoped looked encouraging and supporting, not pitying. As Luka's smile grew, Marinette considered her try a success. Tikki gave her a thumbs up from the corner of the room, where she could see Luka, but Luka couldn't see her. Luka sighed.

“You have no idea how great it is to see you”, he said, throwing his head back. “You, and Jules and Rose and mom and everyone that wasn’t an annoying paparazzi or an annoy _ed_ Penny.” He looked back at her. “I know she’s just more tired than usual because of everything that happened – and honestly, Jagged isn’t making _anything_ easier – but it makes me feel even worse when she snaps at me. Then _she’s_ feeling worse and then _I’m_ feeling worse because of that, and Jagged is annoying both of us, and I _can’t wait_ to go back. I’ve just about had enough of this tour.” He ran his hands through his hair, and Marinette felt a pang in her heart.

“Don’t let this thing ruin your entire tour, Luka. It’s not worth it”, Marinette said, and her fingers twitched with the need to grab his hand. Just a bit longer, she reminded herself. Tikki flew over to the desk to grab another cookie.

“I know you’re right, and I’m probably going to feel different when all of this is over, but right now I just need to moan and complain”, he half-joked, and Marinette giggled.

"I know that need", she joked back, and was awarded a laugh from Luka. It was weak, but it was still something. She shifted in her seat. "Is it, um-", she scratched her cheek, "is it very bad?"

Luka’s face darkened, and she immediately regretted her question. He heaved a long sigh.

“Jagged says it’s nowhere as bad as it can be”, he replied, trying to mask the tone of bitterness. “I _know_ it’s really not that bad, but you know, it’s my first time going through this, and one way or another it’s still annoying. I really don’t like this part of the industry”, he concluded, and Marinette nodded in understanding. Scandals and gossip are, unfortunately, a staple of life in the public eye, no matter how much one tries to avoid them. Marinette herself had gone through some uncomfortable situations, and many even worse were sure to be waiting in the future.

“It’s horrible, and you are absolutely justified in your anger, but just remember that you will always have someone by your side. _Always_. Your family is there for you, your friends are there for you…”

She paused, a light blush staining her cheeks, but Luka wouldn’t be able to notice that. No matter how much technology advanced, some nuances it still couldn’t convey.

“You have me”, she said shyly, and she’d bet, if they were face to face in person, she’d be able to witness the rose blooming on his cheeks – but just like he couldn’t see her blush, she couldn’t see his. The adoring _“Thank you”_ he sent her made up for only a part of it.

(She needed him next to her, now.)

Tikki made a small coughing sound – Marinette was getting lost in her thoughts, and Luka started shifting on the screen, presumably to check the connection. Marinette shook her head, cleared her throat, sent Tikki a thankful look, and then returned her focus to the face on the screen.

“I lost you for a minute there”, Luka teased, having figured out everything was alright with his internet connection, and Marinette rolled her eyes, but blushed a bit more.

“I was thinking about what sweets I should make for your return. If you’re nice”, she teased back, eyebrow raised.

"Well, I better get my act together, if I want to be graced by the privilege of eating your cookies", Luka smirked and – was he aware of how that sounded? Did he _know_ how that sounded? Maybe it was only Marinette’s head that was in the gutter?

She turned to Tikki. The kwami was sniggering around a caramel biscuit. Not only Marinette, then. But she didn’t have the capacity to deal with innuendos, or what it meant that Luka was throwing them around, at the moment.

She cleared her throat and mumbled out, _“that’s right”_. She wasn’t about to let Luka wonder whether her lack of reaction meant a lack of understanding or something else, like _rejection_ , which he could very well think of.

“When are you coming back?”, she asked instead, and was graced with a smile wider than anything he’d sent her way in the last few minutes.

“You know we’re at the end of our tour, right?”, he said, and Marinette rolled her eyes.

“Yes, of course, your schedule is literally on the internet”, she answered, and Luka laughed. “But you know, you said Jagged was planning on taking you somewhere for a while and everything, and I know Jagged is not the most punctual person in the world and could take you away for a week or a month- Actually”, Marinette stopped, frowning, “I now realize it may be a very stupid thing, asking you when you’re going to return, when you _yourself_ don’t know because it’s all up to Jagged and- _Why are you grinning?_ ”, she asked, confused, and Luka chuckled.

“First I’d like to say I’m very touched at your belief in me and my ability to reject my eccentric _boss’_ wishes."

Marinette pouted and yelled, _“You know how he is, I’m not saying it’s your fault!”_ , which made Luka nod and wince – probably at some unpleasant memories – before he continued speaking.

“I guess this entire… _fiasco-_ ”

“You’re allowed to swear-”

“-lead to some good things as well.”

Marinette frowned.

“What good things?”, she asked, eyes narrowed. Luka smiled.

“Turns out Jagged has _some_ common sense. He figured that I wouldn't be so eager to continue traveling after all of this, and that I'd rather return home."

Marinette felt butterflies – the good kind – fluttering around in her stomach, but still tried to stop herself from hoping. She was waiting for Luka to say it. Luka understood; he laughed and then got closer to the camera and his computer, as if that would help him get closer to Marinette.

“I’m not going on that trip, Marinette. I’m returning after the end of the tour.”

Marinette gripped her chair, willing herself not to jump out of it. Some feet away from her, Tikki stopped munching on her cookie.

“Does that mean…?”, Marinette trailed off, and Luka, a wide smile on his face, was happy to finish her sentence.

“I’m coming back in nine days.”

Marinette was suddenly overwhelmed by so many emotions she was finding it hard to breathe. She was thrilled beyond words, excited and very, _very_ happy, but also nervous, a little bit surprised and, maybe, scared. But it was a good scared. It was a good scared, Marinette decided, when she felt her heart beat erratically, and her hands tremble with the need to touch him – which she would be able to do very soon – and her tongue twisted at all the words she wanted to say, the joy she wanted to express, but was unable to because no words would ever be able to communicate how she was feeling at that moment. Tikki zipped around the room, sharing in her friend’s excitement, and the atmosphere in Marinette’s room made it feel like there wasn’t enough air in it.

“Marinette, is everything alright?”, Luka asked, Marinette’s long silence making him worried. Marinette blinked several times, confused because – because why would anything be wrong? Luka was coming home _in_ _nine days_. She turned a soft, _loving_ (but Luka didn’t dare think it) smile at him.

“Everything is great. It’s _great_ , Luka”, she said, and her heart pumped faster at the way Luka’s eyes immediately crinkled, and his lips pulled into that smile he reserved for her, and – how had she not seen it before? Just how much he’d always loved her?

“I can’t wait to hug you”, she blurted, words leaving her mouth faster than she could process, let alone control them. Marinette had to bite back a squeal at the face of utter bewildered joy that greeted her from across the computer screen. Tikki shoved a whole cookie in her mouth to contain her giggles; she wasn’t about to alert Luka to her presence this late in the game. And during _such_ a moment!

“I… I can’t wait to hug you too, Mari”, Luka said softly; Marinette’s insides twisted at the nickname he refused to repeat after that one time she’d been left speechless by it. Her brain short-circuiting, it was no wonder she squeaked out an _“okay”_ , and turned three shades darker. Luka's face also kept getting redder by the second, and he followed her squeaky okay with a clearing of the throat and a deeper okay than he was probably aiming for. He kept his gaze away from the screen. Marinette kept her gaze locked on hers. Tikki started the countdown to their reunion, which would hopefully save her from seeing her chosen, and Luka, acting like they were fifteen and seventeen again.

“I um, I have to go now”, Luka said, obviously hating every word in that sentence, and Tikki would guess he was probably wondering whether he was _that_ needed back there, amidst all the chaos. He probably would have much rather stayed glued to the computer screen, gazing lovingly and longingly at Marinette.

Marinette thought something similar – she’d probably _also_ be very happy to just stare at him – but decided it wouldn’t be smart to keep him away from his responsibilities (Tikki was so proud of her). Instead, she nodded her head, smiled encouragingly at him, and then quietly added, _“Nine more days”_. Luka looked like three more _minutes_ would be too much, but he returned the smile, repeated her words, and then wished Marinette goodnight.

“See you soon”, he said reverently, and when the call ended Tikki joined her wielder’s lovesick sigh.

“How am I going to survive seeing him live if he’s got such an influence over me _now_ ”, Marinette whined, but both her and Tikki knew there would be no stuttering, blubbering messes, awkward laughs and even more awkward silences now. Slowly, Marinette pushed her desk chair, rolled over to her chaise, grabbed a pillow, and then squeezed the life out of it.

“Better get at least a part of it out of my system, if I don’t want to kill him the minute I see him”, she sighed, and Tikki giggled, nodded, and then nuzzled Marinette’s cheek.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind it either way”, she joked; Marinette let out a loud laugh, and that night she went to sleep while thinking of strong arms and kind blue eyes whose true beauty she’d see again very soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This monster was inspired by the song Si pruebas una vez by Ha*Ash, the acoustic version (https://youtu.be/vfzbNisO4mU). My Spanish no es tan bueno, but I think this translation - https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Ha-Ash-2/Si-pruebas-una-vez/translation/english - is a good one.
> 
> I guess, the only thing I have to say in the end - or rather, I have to ask - is, am I allowed to make them swear if the collection is T rated?


	9. As Strong As You Are Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luka/Couffaine family-centric: Luka will be moving out soon, and he wants to leave a parting gift for his sister and mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am as surprised as you are about this update. But unlike the previous story, that gave me headaches for weeks, this one just flew out of my brain in about an hour, maybe a little more? It's a lot shorter, that's true, but I still hope you like it!
> 
> We're leaving romance behind for a bit, time for some family feels!

Luka groaned again and crumbled up another piece of paper before he threw it in the trash can next to his desk. The can wasn't exactly overflowing, but it _was_ half full, and the pile of recycled paper didn’t show any signs of slowing its growth.

Luka thumped his head against the table.

“Why is this so _hard_?", he whined because no one was there to hear him, and then got up from his seat to make himself another cup of coffee. Luka had never drunk that much coffee _in his life_. Passing through more boxes strewn around the houseboat than usual ( _“Because you’re moving”_ , his brain had to remind him), Luka reached the small kitchen and, while he was waiting for the coffee to be made, he looked around. He still couldn’t quite accept the fact that he was moving. He was excited, of course, but a part of him felt like he was leaving behind a huge piece of his soul. This was where he’d spent his entire life – and for better or for worse, this was his home.

Living in a houseboat wasn’t always glamorous, and it was certainly never easy, but Luka had learned to love his life there. He’d made many great memories with his mother and his sister, and later his friends, on the Liberty, and she stopped being an object and became something like another member of the family a long time ago.

He was really going to miss her.

Deciding that there was no use going back to his desk with his mind so unable to think, focus and create, Luka took his coffee up to the deck and then perched himself in his favorite chair. His mother asked him if he wanted to take it to his new apartment with him, but Luka refused – the chair didn't belong in a small apartment on the fifth floor of an old building, where there was no water to look at, and no sunlight to absorb. Besides, he'd joked, it would be another excuse for him to come and visit them. Anarka smiled then – she knew her boy didn’t need any excuses to come back. Rather, he was looking for excuses _not to leave_. Luka couldn't help it. He wasn't moving out of town, but Paris was a big city; yes, his apartment was closer to his school, and practicing making guitars was certainly much easier on the solid, non-shaky ground, but that still didn't mean Luka was ready to leave what had always been his safe haven.

A gentle breeze blew over and shook Luka's bangs, and he laughed. He guessed he wouldn't miss the stench of the river, but he had grown so accustomed to it, he barely even registered the smell. Besides, the air on the small terrace of his fifth-floor apartment was sure to stink of smog and soot anyway. At least on the boat, he could feel the wind in his hair.

Luka sighed.

The differences between houseboats and small apartments aside, he was r _eally_ going to miss his family. Sharing a room with his sister was never something he actively enjoyed – it was somewhat annoying, actually, even more so since both of them had grown – but he did love Juleka, and he would miss seeing her every day. He was incredibly proud of her growth, but he was still scared, and was reluctant to leave her on her own. He knew she’d have their mother by her side, but his protective nature didn’t let him rest. When he’d admitted all of that to Juleka (unwillingly but forced to because of his strange behavior), he’d earned himself a slap across his head and then a tight hug.

“I love you and, I appreciate everything you do for me, but you have to stop worrying about me so much. I’m getting better. What I need right now is for you to have faith in me, alright?”, Juleka mumbled into his shirt, and Luka almost kept her there, so she wouldn't see the way his eyes were watering. In the end, he let her pull away. Her eyes were teary as well.

"I'm always going to worry", Luka said quietly. "I'm your brother."

Juleka smiled and tightened her arms around him for a moment.

“And I’m your sister. And I’m going to worry about you too. But just like I trust you to be okay on your own, but to call us whenever you need help, I trust you to do the same for me. Let me fight my own battles, and trust that when I need you, I _will_ call.”

Luka smiled at the confidence in her tone.

“You’re all grown up now, huh?”, he teased her, and Juleka slapped his arm lightly, but she was smiling. Luka ruffled her hair.

“Maybe I’m the one who still has more growing to do.”

“Of course you do, dumbass. Just because you’re moving away from your family home doesn’t mean you’re all grown up now”, Juleka nudged him, and Luka laughed. "I guarantee you're going to spend the first week calling everyone you know in a panic because you don't know how a vacuum cleaner works, or how a toaster works, or how-”

“Okay, that’s enough teasing, I’m not going to be _that_ bad”, Luka pinched her cheek, and Juleka shoved him away. “But if I _do_ end up having any problems of the like, I promise I’ll call _you_ first”, he joked; Juleka rolled her eyes at him affectionately, and then they let go of each other. They spent that day teasing one another and playing around, and Anarka came back home to a rock-out session, which she promptly joined.

When he remembered how their mother had triumphed over them both with a ferocity only she possessed, Luka felt his lips stretch into an amusedly fond smile. Anarka wasn’t the most “regular” mother, but she loved her children fiercely. Sometimes she had trouble communicating with them, especially Juleka – the two of them were as different as night and day – but neither his sister nor Luka had ever had any doubts about their mother's love and the fact that she would do anything for them. Luka worried about her, too, and in a very different way than he worried about Juleka; but just like his sister, Anarka had also lectured him about his worrywart tendencies.

“I have lived in this world for much longer than you, lass, and I’ve seen more things too. I know I don’t exactly give off the air of the most responsible person – I’m _not_ the most responsible, I admit – but that’s on me and not something that my son needs to take care of. You’re to live your own life, boy; you’re to worry about _yourself_ first”, she told him about a week ago, when Luka was particularly tense and hating the idea of moving. “Carve out your own future, Luka, and let the rest of us do the same. And if you ever find yourself needing help”, she told him, grabbing his shoulder in a habit he picked up from her, “you know where I am.”

Luka hugged his mother, briefly, because she wasn’t the type who liked prolonged contact, and let her ruffle his hair. He had to lean down a little for her to do that, and he could have sworn he heard her murmur, _“my sweet boy, not so little anymore”_.

Luka really loved them both, he thought, while he was wiping away the tears that were freely falling down his cheeks. He loved them, but he was _very_ _glad_ they weren’t there to see him like that.

Pushing himself off the chair, Luka picked up the cup that he left lying on the boards. He quickly washed it and put it away, and then returned to the room that would soon be just Juleka’s.

(No matter how much she was going to miss him, Luka would bet that having her own room would make up for it.)

He sat back down at the tiny table in what was still (for just a few more days) his corner of the room. He was determined to finish the song he was writing for them.

Luka wanted his mother and his sister to know just how much they meant to him, and how much he loved them. He wouldn’t be able to be there for them always anymore, but he wanted them to feel like he _was_ there, whenever they heard that song. He wanted that song to give them courage and peace and everything Luka would give if he was next to them.

Luka smiled. Just a few minutes ago, nothing was coming to him – no melody, no words, _nothing_ – but now, he felt like he knew how he wanted to finish the song he’d started writing the minute he decided he would move away. Thinking about them and how happy they made him, and how sad he was to leave him, let him pour his heart out onto pages that used to be ordinary paper, but were now something that would forever bind them.

He didn’t want to think of it as a goodbye song – this was far from a goodbye. This was a thank you for everything they’d done for him, and everything they would do.

A tear fell onto one of the pages, but Luka was still smiling.

He was starting a new chapter in his life, but the happy days he spent with his family on the Liberty would live on forever in his heart – and this song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I both came up with, and wrote this idea /today/.
> 
> Originally, I was supposed to write a story for my other collection, Say It Right, where the prompt was 'saying "I love you" through a song'. I started writing that, but as soon as I started another idea hit me, so I thought, "eh well, I guess this prompt will have /two/ versions!" But /then/, I remembered the song I Want To Write You a Song by One Direction   
> ( https://youtu.be/zD7P71Wc5aY ), so I figured well hey, I can write /this/ for ilylals, and the /other/ idea for Say It Right. But then in the end I scratched the lukanette vibe from this one completely and now it's family feels time!
> 
> Also, apparently, Luka wants to make string instruments? Well you know what, I like that, count me in!

**Author's Note:**

> The song this story was loosely based on is Too Much To Ask by Arctic Monkeys: https://youtu.be/yJkts8ud6uA
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading it, and I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> (Also do you think I should put the name of the song at the beginning, or in the summary, or should I leave it in the endnotes?)


End file.
